


Crossing Lines

by evillovebunny500



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: I feel so bad, M/M, Mutiverse, but i love to make them suffer, poor babies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2018-10-12 22:37:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10500864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evillovebunny500/pseuds/evillovebunny500
Summary: Sans was so SO tired.He was tired of waking up every day, in the early hours of the morning to cook his Boss’s breakfast. He was tired of having to sneak out of the house to grab his Boss’s very important mail. To look out for monsters looking for any advantage they could find to get the upper hand on his boss.





	1. 'Again'

Sans was so SO tired.

He was tired of waking up every day, in the early hours of the morning to cook his Boss’s breakfast. He was tired of having to sneak out of the house to grab his Boss’s very important mail. To look out for monsters looking for any advantage they could find to get the upper hand on the skeleton brothers..

It was a disgustingly comforting pattern that had been Sans’s life for years. For a long time, he had been grateful for it, it gave him purpose, he was doing the little things, taking care of his little brother (even though Sans was a useless piece of garbage.)  His brother was giving his life meaning, but then the flower showed up.

They wanted peace; they wanted to show monster kind that they could be good, that anyone could be a good person if they just tried.

But every time it didn’t work out he would load, sometimes if the damage was too much he would reset the world.

That plant didn’t know that Sans remembered, that he was aware of every agonizing point where he was forced to redo his actions over, and over again. It made Sans realize just how pointless it all was.

He knew it wasn’t the flowers intention; he hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone, not even someone as despicable as Sans.

As shitty as it was when the flower had been resetting the world over and over again, dozens and dozens of times. The worst part was when it all stopped.

Sans woke up one day, early in the morning as usual to fix his boss’s breakfast. He had everything done on schedule, his Boss woke up, yelled for a while, and threatened him into staying awake at his station. He would stay awake until it was time to go home, then he went home, made dinner and endured his Boss’s abuse. At the end of the night, he would lay in bed and fall asleep ready for the next reset.

Only it never came.

Days, weeks, years passed.

He was left in a haze that he was too afraid to break out of.

And then the human came and it all started over.

And over.

And over.

Sans gave up trying.

The only time he ever took a stand for the child’s sins was when he was surrounded by nothing but dust. He was forced to act, forced to desperately attempt to save the timeline, in the hope that maybe one day the resets would end, and he and the Boss would be free.

It always ended in failure, with a gaping hole left in his chest dust spilling from him. Sometimes if the light shined just right on the dust filling the air, he would almost this he was seeing not the bloodstained judgment hall, but one that was lighter… nicer….

Then he would wake up back in bed.

Sometimes he would dream of the hall that wasn’t stained with child’s blood, that wasn’t covered in his own dust.

It was beautiful, he could see the crystals outside shining inside, could almost hear the song of the birds sing, and he knew if he was ever able to look out the huge stained glass windows that he would see beautiful flowers blooming.

Instead, he was here again.

The child had been bad the last few runs, they had gone through killing everyone over and over again.

He didn’t understand the appeal of it, the appeal of killing people they didn’t even know.

But hey he wasn’t the killer kid, so he would never know.

And so he stood in the hall again.

“Again” it was a word he was getting tired of hearing, of using it.

'Here we are again, in this hall again, you’re back again.'

He hated the word almost as much as he hated the kid.

The kid lunged at him, he dodged without even thinking about it, the response was automated, and he didn’t even have to think about it anymore. Even with the number of times they had fought,  the number of times the kid killed him, he was still able to somehow kill the child.

It felt just a little satisfying to see their body go limp, blood spilling from the new hole in their gut, even though he knew it wasn’t a wound that would last. If he hadn’t been born with a permanent smile on his face, the sight would have made him smile.

The kid loaded the world again. They lunged at him again. They dodged his attacks again. He felt the knife slice into his ribs again. He heard them walk away again. He saw the beautiful judgment hall again.

He reached out, he wanted to be in that world, and he was so tired of fighting. He was just so tired……

He stumbled forward, his soul was shattering, dust spilled from his chest, big red tears welled up in his sockets, and spilled down his cheeks.

He just wanted to live in a different world. A better world, A world where he didn't have to struggle everyday.  
  
Where he could stand by his boss without fear.  
  
If he had more energy, he would have laughed at himself.


	2. 'Forgettable'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'underswap'

Sans stood in the judgment hall. The Human stood before him.

Muddy red hair hugged their smiling face, bright red eyes staring up at him. They held out their hands and he obliged, wrapping his own boney arms around their small frame.

The hug didn’t last long, they broke apart and the child began to walk past him, he didn’t turn in their direction. But he said,” Good luck Human, I know you will do what is best.”

They didn’t reply but he heard their footsteps grow distant.

He sighed, the human had been good this time. All he could do was hope that the Queen would win the battle, and the child would choose not to load.

He knew it wasn’t likely but he still dreamed of it.

All he had was his optimism, no matter how false it was.

He closed his eyes and thought of Snowdin, of his bedroom. The air grew light around him, the world around him turned black. Then with the blink of an eye, he was standing in his room.

The room was scarce, his bed lay on the floor, blankets and pillows balled up and tossed in the corner. He had a plain dresser will with a few white t-shirts and black baggy pants. On the wall hung a long poster displaying a picture of space saying, ‘Did you know Einstein created a theory about space? It was about time.’

He remembered the first time papyrus saw it, he groaned and threatened to burn it. It was a fond memory of Sans, his brother had lost his laughter a long time ago.

He remembered years ago when his brother would yell at him for making puns when he would call Sans a nerd and run off to his job as a royal guard.

The days when Sans's life was easy, he just had to get up make food and he could run his hot dog stand without a care in the world.

Then…. Something had happened, Sans had never been able to figure out what it was exactly but…. Everything had changed.

His brother stopped going to work, he hardly ate Sans’s food. It took him almost a week just to get him out of his bedroom. Sans realized he would have to adapt, change everything he was.

At least on the surface.

Thankfully Sans wasn’t a particularly chatty guy, hardly anyone noticed anything. He became everything his brother would need, he dragged him from his room, begged with a childish charm to get Papyrus to eat his ‘new’ recipes, to leave his room and listen to his ridiculous stories.

And it worked. Papyrus got out of bed in the morning, he was usually awake already when Sans came bursting into his room, blue faced and already complaining about being late for work.

Though, when he is able to drag his brother down to the kitchen, he doesn’t hurry his brother to eat. He doesn’t hurry himself to leave his brother alone.

He talked to the Queen, asked her to employ his depressed brother. She had looked at him with such a kind smile and had said, “Of course my Judge, I would be honored to help you in what ways I can.”

And yet he went knocking on the Royal Guard Captain’s door, Alphys reclusive but strong, he begged her for a job with the Royal Guard, she had growled and shut the door in his face.

But before long he had set it all up. Alphys had ‘given’ him and his ‘lazy’ brother a job as sentries of Snowdin forest. Though he didn’t realize how much time he would be spending with her afterward as well.

And though he didn’t anticipate it, she nagged at Papyrus, and to his surprise, it helped.

His brother would talk and laugh. It was a rare sight, and Sans made sure that Alphys hung out with them often.

Sans was snapped out of his trip down memory lane when his cell phone alarm buzzed in his pocket. It was time to make lunch and bring it to his brother.

With a forced enthusiasm he busted out of his room, locked his door and took the stairs two at a time.

He was surprised to see that his brother was sitting on the couch with the TV on. It was playing a new episode of one of Napstablook and Mettaton’s shows. He didn’t pay attention to which one it was, he didn’t care for the robot cousin’s games.  

Though he didn’t care he asked anyway,” Hello brother! What are you watching?” His brother shrugged and took a long drag from his cigarette, “Not really payin’ attention bro”

The response was unusual, normally his brother loved watching the ridiculous shows the bots put on,” Is something on your mind Brother?” Sans asked with a steady enthusiasm that didn’t have a hint of the worry he felt.

“…. Just thinkin’ ‘bout the kid. You think they’ll be ok fightin’ the Queen?” Papyrus sounded almost worried, his expression grew pained.

“I think the Human will do fine!! After all, they are the best friend of the Magnificent Sans!!!” He said excitedly, jumping onto the arm of the couch next to Papyrus. “I am sure the Queen will let the Human go home when they see how nice they are! You’ll see!!!”

His brother didn’t look convinced of Sans false statement but he smiled and said with a laugh,” Yeah I’m sure you’re right bro”

“Of course I am!! I am the Magnificent Sans!!” He scooted off of the arm of the sofa to jump excitedly at his own declaration. His brother laughed softly at his antics and Sans counted it as a win.

“Oh, but it is dinner time! Time to make some of my Impressive Spaghetti!!” As the words left Sans mouth his brother leaped off of the couch with an impressive amount of energy,” Nah I think I’m gonna grab Muffet’s, uh see you later bro” He said it hurriedly, as he escaped from their shared home.

With the living room abandoned, he sighed, at least his brother was eating something. He knew he could trust Muffet to feed his brother and bring him home. In the end that’s all that really mattered…right?

He wasn’t really insulted that his brother wouldn’t eat his food, his brother hadn’t eaten anything more than Sans’s breakfast in years. Still, it hurt that his brother was still so fast to abandon him after all the effort he puts into it.

He wonders if Papyrus remembers how it used to be.

He doubted he would ever find out.


	3. 'Skeleton'

Sans felt cold, which was a pretty great feat for someone without skin.

He wished he could laugh at his own joke, but instead his non-existent chest stuttered on its breath, struggling to move air in and out.

Monsters thought that skeletons didn’t need to breathe, sleep, or feel the weather, it’s how the skeleton brothers had chosen to be perceived.

Their magic was like any other monsters, they needed air to circulate in their respiratory system otherwise they would suffocate, and they needed to sleep otherwise they would become sick.

Just because their organs weren’t visible people thought they didn’t exist, and most of the time they prefer that people think they didn’t.

But Sans was struggling, his bones were rattling from the cold, but he couldn’t lift his body out of the snow. He wondered how he had ended up in the Icey situation, but nothing came to mind.

He has fought the human, their knife slicing through his chest cavity, dust spilling out. He remembered seeing the judgment hall beyond, the one that seemed so….nice. He recalled stumbling forward spouting something profound at the murderous child as they moved on from his death.

He didn’t remember anything after that.

Now not only did his entire body hurt, but now his head hurt too. It didn’t matter anyway, he must have successfully teleported to Snowdin in his death haze.

He was sure he wouldn’t have to wait too long before he woke back up in his bed.

He closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep.

-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

Sans let out a deep sigh, with his brother gone and off to Muffet’s he didn’t really have a reason to stay home.

Leaving his house he began to trek to Snowdin forest. He needed to check his puzzles, or so he would tell anyone who asked what he was up too.

 He used this time to reflect on the day, to see if anything about his brother’s behavior was different.

It was to check to see if his brother was doing any better than the day before.

And one thing he could say about the resets is that it did make his brother improve.

He had willingly hung out with the kid, he had brought them on a ‘date’ to Muffet’s and had laughed more than Sans had heard in years.

Even though the kid kept him in a perpetual hell it was worth it to see his brother improve.

As he approached his brother’s sentry station he wasn’t surprised to see it empty.

He was a little relieved that his brother wasn’t hanging out alone in the forest, but instead at the bakery with his friends.

He let out a sigh and turned around, He should head to the barrier soon, any moment the child would be talking with Asriel.

Before he got more than a couple steps he heard the quiet sound of rattling. A very familiar type of rattling at that.

Sans followed the noise into the forest, cautious of a possible ambush, he snuck forward.

Within a minute he arrived at a small clearing, pristine snow covered the forest floor. He grew suspicious until he heard the sound again.

It sounded like bone clicking and rubbing up against each other. With a quiet sigh, he warily stepped into the clearing until he spotted a small patch of black.

It took him a moment to recognize it as a piece of fabric. Without hesitating further, he began to dig it up.

Only to find the cloth connected to a pile of bones.

A skeleton.

He was taken aback, he had never met another skeleton besides himself and his brother. Though he shouldn’t be surprised, it would be strange if there were no other skeletons in the underground.

With a gentle touch he turned over the rattling skeleton, there clothing was soaking wet.

When he turned them over he saw they were wearing shorts and a thick hoody, clearly dressed for Snowdin or Waterfall.

The skeletons eyes were closed but Sans could catch a lot from their appearance.

Their bone was an off color, almost tinged yellow. Their teeth were cut jaggedly, and very obviously cut. They were uneven and it looked painful. A false gold tooth was held by magic in the spot where there left canine should be.

Harsh and deep scars littered the skeletons unconscious face. Smaller scars surrounded the right socket, it looked as though someone shoved something too big inside the socket, causing it to splinter and crack the bone around it. The left sockets had similar scars but they were less server, and rather than ending there was a thick scar that trailed from the eye socket up and over the skull, beyond where his vision could see.

While the scars troubled him, what really caught his attention was the sweater under their hoody, covered in thick white powder.

With steady hands, Sans cradled the smaller skeleton to his chest and built up his magic.

He made sure to bury the skeletons head into the crook of his shoulder, a just in case. With a burst of magic, he popped from one place to another.

His living room was just as he had left it, abandoned and clean. With haste, he laid the skeleton onto his purple sofa.

With his magic buzzing with adrenaline he hurried around, gathering gauze, clothing and other medical supplies he made his way back to the couch.

Unsurprisingly the skeleton had not moved a muscle.

With gentle hands he began to undress the skeletons torso, he peeled the jacket away, and with a pained heart, he cut away the dark red sweater.

The laceration cut from their right collarbone to their bottom rib on their left side. The wound almost cut straight through the bone, the skeleton was lucky that the cut didn’t completely sever their rib cage. Another couple inches, and there would be no way Sans would be able to help.

He worked on the wound with a practiced and steady hand, he had treated many wounds in his life, and this one was familiar.

Every time he stood across from the human, a knife in their small hand. They split his rib cage open from the top right to the bottom left. He shivered at the de-ja-vu of the situation.

With a small check he discovered some startling information, and way to familiar stats.

??? HP .01/1 ATK 1 DEF 1, HAS GIVING UP.

He didn’t let the revelation stop his healing, he did everything he could to bring up the skeletons measly health.

.02 He was sweating, he had never had such a hard time healing someone before.

.03 It felt so familiar, he wondered if he had ever been in this situation before

.04 His chest was heaving, sweat poured down his face, his breathing labored.

.05 He had to stop, his energy was drained, he checked to make sure his health was unharmed.

SANS HP 1/1 ATK 1 DEF 1. HE WANTS THE VERY BEST FOR HIS BROTHER.

He was relieved to see the intensive healing had left his own soul intact.

Though he had expended so much energy on the prone skeleton, his patient hadn’t moved at all.

Before long Sans drifted off, resting his head in his arms next to the sleeping skeleton, he wondered if his mysterious skeleton friend would ever wake up.


	4. A Sick Feeling

Everything hurt.

That was the first thing he noticed, it was…….strange.

Not that he was in pain. Sans was used to pain, he rarely wasn’t in pain.

But…. He never was in this much agony when the world reset. He was always brought back to a time before it was fucked.

He cracked his eye sockets open, it was hard. They were gummy, caked with dried dust. After a moment of struggling to open in his eyes he finally managed it. Though it took all of the energy out of him.

Exhausted he took in as much of his surroundings as he could, he saw purple wallpaper and a big t.v. He felt unnerved, who in the underground had purple wallpaper? Certainly not anyone Sans or his boss knew.

Which meant he was in a perfect strangers house.

Great.

He struggled to move his head round, and only managed to flop his head sideways. Thankfully facing out from the couch.

The first thing he noticed was the monster by his side.

Said monster was a skeleton.

With strong looking bones, no scars were in sight and the skeleton appeared to be wearing very bright clothing.

He couldn’t see all of it but he could tell he was wearing a white t-shirt with some sort of purple-blue armor on top. Bright blue gloves and a handkerchief of some sort adored the skeleton. Arms were tucked under their head and their expression looked peaceful and eerie.

They had a grin on their face, something told Sans that the grin was not there by choice. He wondered if it was a common deformity among skeletons.

With his energy used up he began to drift out of consciousness, he hope that he wouldn’t wake up so he didn’t have to deal with this new threat.

He also knew the likely hood of that was very slim, after all he woke up once already.

With a weary sigh he drifted off back to sleep.

-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

When Sans woke up he was sore.

His back screeched at him for sleeping so awkwardly over the other skeleton, he slowly sat up his joints popping back into place, elevating some of the discomfort.

When he looked over to his skeleton patient he thought nothing had changed until he realized that his face was turned to the side.

Feeling slightly giddy he patted the skeleton gently on his left shoulder hoping to rouse him.

His skeletal patient let out a pained groan.

Eye sockets slowly opened, they were hazy and out of focus but Sans couldn’t help but be more excited.

Though he was excited he kept his voice calm and soft asking him,” Hey there bud, can you hear me?”

At first the skeleton didn’t respond and sans readied to repeat himself when a deep and tired voice answered him, “yea I c’n hear ya’” The voice was hoarse and weak. And a cough that racked his entire ribcage followed,

Sans fell to the man’s side, lifting him into a sitting position in order to give him an easier time of breathing. After the cough subsided he asked.” Man someone sure did a number on you. I found you out in the forest allll the way out by the ruins door, what were you doing out there?”

The skeleton in his arms let out a bark of laughter, bitter and weak, “m’a sentry out there, its m’job”

The words were gargled. Sans was sure he must have misheard him. Sans, his brother, and the dog patrol where the only sentries’ in Snowdin forest. He would have noticed another skeleton monster right away.

But he thought perhaps the man is confused, and meant he was a sentry coming to visit the town of Snowdin, it did happen here and there.

Rather than voicing his thoughts he simply nodded a long and asked him if he needed anything, the man scoffed and chuckled dryly.

“Drink” Sans gave him a nod, and he stood up and made his way into the kitchen, he was happy to find he still had plastic cups. He tried to keep them around for when Alphys visited she tended to break her silverware and Sans didn’t want to risk getting injured picking up glass.

Filling the cup with water he brought he back to the skeleton and helped him sip the water. He was careful to keep it slow, frustrating the injured man but he didn’t verbally complain.

After finishing most of the water Sans set it done on the floor beside him, with a gentle tone he said,” Alright bud, I took care of most of the damage when you were sleeping, but I need to take another look at your wounds.”

The injured man stared at him, he seemed baffled, and “Why are you helping me?” His voice was deep and stilled had a hoarse quality to it, but it was much clearer and stronger than before.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Sans questioned back, giving the man a confused look, he asked, “Why wouldn’t I help an injured monster?”

He laughed, it was bitter and harsh, “What kinda world do you live in kid? In this world its kill or be killed, everyone knows that so drop the act and let me in on what’s really goin on round here”

Sans was taken back, and deeply confused. Where did this man live that the world lived by such harsh rules, “I live a world that is peaceful, our Queen is strong and demands that have hope and have a bright outlook on our future. I don’t know where you come from that the world would live by such and awful model but here in Snowdin we live and let live. You’re safe here.” He tried to give the skeleton and reassuring smile, but something awful was eating away at his gut.

“What’ya talkin bout the Queen left the King years ago, every kid knows that. Our King is harsh and cruel.” His tone had a shred of doubt in it.

The feeling in Sans gut grew.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Sans cleared his throat, “I feel as though we are on the wrong page. Allow me to start over, my name is Sans the Skeleton, I live here in Snowdin with my brother Papyrus, What is your name?”

The man stared at his with surprise written across his face, he said with a very unsure tone, “m-my name is Sans and I live with my Boss, Papyrus, head of the Royal Guard…..”

It seemed to dawn on them both at the same moment.

The both released a quiet “Holy shit…..”


	5. Soup

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to upload, I've been so busy and motivation has really been kicking my ass.  
> I hope you guys enjoy this one!

Sans mind was spinning with thoughts. He had heard of the possibility of other universes of course, hell he has read countless books and studies on it. But for it to be proven right in front of him during the most hellish time in his life was mind blowing.

In his distraction it took a couple of minutes for him to realize his counterpart was staring at him. “Oh, sorry I was distracted there, uh what’s up?”

For a long moment his red counterpart didn’t say anything.  He seemed to be searching Sans face for something, he must have found it and he let out a sigh and looked away.

“Your bones…. They look…. Good.”

It was Sans’s turn to stare at the other skeleton, “uh yeah? I can’t say the same about yours though”

“E-exactly…. You…. Were telling the truth right? About the hope and bright outlook… “The red skeletons eyes were glued to the floor.

Sans’s gaze softened, “yeah, no one will hurt you here…”

Sans’s counterpart didn’t reply and the silence stretched on.

Clearing his throat Sans asked,” Hey since you awake now, do you want anything to eat?”

-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

Sans slide his gaze from the carpeted floor to the blue clad skeleton before him. Sans was hungry, but he wasn’t sure how much he trusted him.

Sans scoffed at himself a moment later, he was on the verge of death, welcoming it moments before and now he was trying to worry about staying alive? Ha!

Sans ignored his own thoughts, he would see what this world was all about. He doubted he would be here long, it was a fluke in the multiverse, and it would no doubt correct itself with the next reset.

“Y-yeah I uh c-could go for s-some grub….” His stumbled over his words barley getting much more than a garbled mess out of his mouth. Though it left Sans embarrassed, his counterpart seemed to get the idea and grinned at him.

As the skeleton disappeared from the room, he let out a deep sigh.

He pulled his legs up to compact himself, forgetting about the huge gash a crossed his chest leaving him hissing in pain.

As he returned his legs to their previous position, he saw his double peek from around the corner of the kitchen; his eyebrows were s crunched together with worry, “are you ok?”

Red only nodded, averting his gaze to focus on the table by the kitchen door. His counterpart nodded and disappeared back into the kitchen.

The table that had caught Sans attention had a rock on it; it was covered in what looked like sprinkles. He was baffled as to why it would be their but he thought better of asking it was probably for an insane reason.

He slid his gaze away from the pampered rock to the other side of the room. The wall was littered in pictures of his counterpart and ….. his br..o..th.e..r. He felt nauseated and anxious.

Holy fuck how did he forget about the other Papyrus? Was he anything like his Boss? No, no if his alternate self was a total goober then this

Papyrus would be just as soft right?

He had to breath in and out carefully, he didn’t need his double to come running again. He didn’t need to cause him more worry.

He averted his eyes, He realizes there was a big flat screen t.v a crossed from the couch, in his world the t.v was a roughed up beat up box. Boss liked to watch Mettaton sometimes, when he didn’t Sans had to haul the TV out of storage. In the place of this worlds TV, in his world it was a big pegboard, he would pick up the daily mail and reports and organize it for the Boss when he woke up in the morning.

Apparently he had been staring at the TV long enough that his Blue counterpart had finished whatever he was cooking. He came bounding out of the kitchen with two bowls of steaming soup.

He gingerly sat down besides Sans,” It’s hot but I made some tomato soup! I figured since you’re my counterpart that we’d probably like to eat similar things.” His permeant smile seemed so bright. Sans took the tray offered to him, the soup was steaming and he realized he had a spoon to eat with and a straw.

He looked at his counterpart questioningly, Blue answered with a smile, “The straw? I can hardly eat anything without using a bunch of magic to get it into my mouth. So I use the straw to make it less taxing haha”

He nodded in acknowledgement; his mouth had been cut open years ago, every time he opened his jaw was agony but he was used to it. The world had no mercy for his defects.

-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

Sans stared at his red clone with concern. He hadn’t picked up his spoon or straw, he was just staring into his soup.

“Hey bud, are you not hunger?” He said softly trying his best not to startle him. He watched him jerk out of his haze, he began to sweat and hunch a little closer to himself.

He mumbled something Sans didn’t catch and he took a shaky hand and tried to scoop up some soup. His hand was shaking so much that the soup was spilt off of his spoon before it could reach his mouth.

With a sigh, he gently reach over, this seemed to make his counterpart anxious. He was desperately trying to get some of the food in his mouth, when Sans was close enough to touch him he saw his red counterpart flinched and huddled in on himself.

Sans picked up the straw, bent it and placed it in the soup. With soft noises he leaned Red closer to the bowl, “Here try this sweetie…”

Still shaking he watched as the straw slipped between the other Sans teeth, he saw him slurp a bit of it up.

Before long he had finished the entire bowl. With slow and precise actions he collected the dishes and asked him if he wanted more. He shook his head and Sans brought the dishes to the kitchen and cleaned them.

Coming back into the living room, he declared in an indoor voice, “I am going to go to bed. Would you like to take a shower tonight or tomorrow?”

The other skeleton shook his head; he figured that he wanted his shower tomorrow. With a nod he approached his counterpart and picked him up. The other man clutched at him desperately, surprised to be picked up for sure, but still he didn’t make a sound or struggle.

He brought his counterpart to his bedroom, while it wasn’t as nice as his brothers but it would work. He busied himself with getting other bedsheets and pillows.

He piled them on top of his counterpart before he got under the covers himself. He snuggled close to the skeleton and whispered, “Good night Red”


	6. Bathtime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you guys get a second chapter for waiting so long TooT  
> i hope you like it <3

He isn’t sure when he fell asleep, but next thing he knew he was awake. He was buried in blankets and press up against something hard. It left him confused, had he somehow slept in his Boss’s bed and wasn’t murdered?

After a moment of struggling he was able to get enough wiggle room to see a skeleton sleeping next to him.

_Right._

It was …weird. He couldn’t believe this was really happening, but judging by the sleeping face no more than a couple of inches away from his face.

He flushed and looked away, he was being creepy looking at his counterpart while he was sleeping he was-

He was jostled out of his thought by arms tighten around him pulling him close. “Moring, Red...” His voice was soft, when he looked back to his doubles face, his expression was soft.

He was so flustered he could barely muster, “Morin’…..” His counterparts grin reached his eyes, turning them into stars. It was almost embarrassing to see something so innocent and pure.

He wondered if he had ever been so carefree that he could do that, he doubted it…

-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

Blue sat up with a yawn, he rubbed his sockets and rolled out of bed. The red skeletons face was dusted with red, it may be vain to say it but it was adorable.

With a chuckle he helped his counterpart out of the pile of blankets he was twisted up in. While the other Sans began making the bed he began to look through his clothes and he made a sound of triumph. He had found a red long sleeve shirt in his drawn; it was from Ghristmas party years ago. It would be a little small on him but looking at the other skeleton he was certain that it will fit. He found a pair of black slacks and he grabbed the other man by the hand and declared,” and now it is time us to take a shower."

He dragged the other skeleton to the bathroom and closed the door,” alright time to take it all off, from cleaning your wound last night I know that you need some serious scrubbing."

His counterpart flushed a bright red, he nodded passively at his order and he peeled off his grimy clothing, he hesitated on his shorts.

He didn’t have modesty, but he wasn’t sure that is counterpart didn’t. Or perhaps he was shy to show off his scars that was more likely he decided.

“If that makes you uncomfortable bud then you can leave them on, I think I mostly need to scrub your spine and back ok?” He said his words in a soft and soothing way; he wasn’t trying to make this hard for him.

The red skeleton nodded, taking his hands away from his waist band, he sat of the end of the tub and slid himself in. He had his knees close to his chest, but not super close, he knew that was a painful action.

Putting his hand on the others shoulder; he leaned forward and turned the water on warm. He pointed it away from his counterpart and he gave him a little warning. “I’m gonna start ok?” The skeleton in front of him bobbed his head.

He gently began to spray the water on his shoulders. He tried to be soothing and gentle as he began to scrub at the grim on the others bones.

It didn’t take him long to figure out that the skeletons bones were naturally tinted a slight brownish yellow.

As he was working on cleaning his counterpart he had ended up climbing in the tub too. He sat at the sloped end and had the red skeleton sitting between his legs.

After a solid 15 minutes of scrubbing he declared that his bones were clean enough, “Alright Red you’re all done! Now I’m gonna leave so you can was the rest of yourself in peace, I have some clothes laid out for you on the sink let me know when your done ok?” Red’s head bobbed up and down in confirmation.

“…… thanks…..blue” He heard as he climbed out of the tub. He was a little surprised, Blue? That was fair he thought, after all to Red he was just his blue counterpart, he chuckled as he left the bathroom.

-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-

Sans flushed at the nickname given to him, it certainly not the worst one he’s ever had. Picking up the towel that Blue left behind, he began to clean the rest of his bones.

He had to admit it was incredible soothing to have someone else doing it. Thought to be fair he had never had someone else bath him before. He had bath the boss a lot as a kid but that’s as far as it goes.

Now that he was alone scrubbing at his bones he felt… lonely, not that he wanted someone to bath him, but his counterpart had a pleasant way of going about it.

Scrubbing at his bones for another moment, he got out and carefully dried himself off. He put on the clothing left out for him; it fit surprisingly well, too well. The shirt clung to his bones, it was too tight, and he felt like he wasn’t wearing enough.

Carefully he turned the handle to the bathroom door and slowly crept out. He knew there was nothing to feel anxious over but, it was out of his control.

As he turned the corner he heard Blue gasp, “Red you look great in that shirt! I knew it would fit perfectly”

Red flushed and turned his face away, he looked at the ground as blue came up and hugged him. It was overwhelming, but red did say that he would do his best to enjoy this world, this reprieve from his universe. It took a moment for him to respond to the taller skeleton, he carefully a gently hugged him back.

He felt blues arms tighten suddenly when a deep voice spoke,” Aw man I almost missed the hug fest, you didn’t invite me bro”

He felt and heard Blue laugh, “Oh good morning Brother, Red didn’t invite you to the hug fest is why!” The skeleton stepped back away from Sans with a soft smile. His eyes were encouraging and held a fake cheeriness. It was obvious they were not so different; they both hide under a shell.

He turned towards this world’s papyrus and he felt his soul catch in his throat. The skeleton was tall and thin. After taking a few deep breathes he could see the differences between the papyrus standing before him and his boss. This skeleton slouched, his cheeks were more rounded and his chin was squarer. There were no scars in sight; instead dark circles adored his under eyelids.

He blinked when he felt blues hand press gently on his lower back, the Papyrus before him was holding out his hand.


	7. New

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What we've all been waiting for

Sans knew the monster that stood before was not his brother. He wasn’t _stupid_ but….. Even with his softer features he still looked like Sans’s little brother.

It made him acutely aware of how much he missed him,

His world had been bad and fucked up, it left him messed up and corrupted let alone the damage it had done to his brother.

He remembered vividly before the resets had started his brother had broken down. It had been another stressful day at work, a gang of monsters had intercepted a shipment of produce for Snowdin. They had dusted a royal knight and fled into the dimming glow of the crystals above. Sans had gotten home from his sentry job just an hour before.

He was struggling to make his brother something for dinner when he came slamming the door loudly. It wasn’t an uncommon sight, being a Royal Knight was harrowing.

He and Undyne were co-captains of the Royal Guards and the best of friends. They worked hard to try and make the underground a better place, but it was a slow process.

A slow process because they both carried LOVE. They were careful to control themselves, they didn’t kill out of choice, and they killed in defense.

But sometimes the control slips.

Sans had scrambled out of the kitchen to greet him, he stumbled and fell. His brother so consumed by his rage kicked Sans out of his way.

A lot harder then he intended.

A sharp pain to his ribs left him gasping, his brother snapped out of his rage, he dropped to his knees.

Papyrus gathered him into his arms, he had been shaking, red tears dripped from his sockets. He healed Sans side as best as he could, and he apologized.

Over and over again.

He brother loved him, even if it was hard to express it. Sans knew that his brother fought for them, he fought to give Sans everything he had been given.

With shaky steps, he moved himself forward. He carefully took the Papyrus of this world’s hand, and shook it.

He was sure the skeleton said something funny, but all Sans could hear was his soul beating loudly and fast.

He wanted to go home.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sans was happy that he was fast, even in unpredictable circumstances. He lunged forward and caught Red as he collapsed

His face was wet with sweat and he looked flushed. His brother looked surprised and worried, but Sans didn’t want his brother involved in this.

Looking at how he had talked when they first discovered that they were from different worlds, and how he had acted and looked in the bathtub. He wasn’t surprised that the sight of Papyrus would frighten him.

He was afraid to think of what the papyrus of Red’s world had done to him, how many of those cracks and scars were caused by his cruel hands?

“Heh looks like he got a little flustered, worry not brother I will care for him!” He pushed cheer into his voice as he lifted the skeleton up.

He as too light, he felt fragile and delicate in his arms and it unsettled him. He hurried past his brother into his bedroom. He laid him on the bed and genteelly tucked him in.

He heard a sudden sharp knock on his door.

“What is it dear brother? Did you miss me-“His cheerful greeting was interrupted by his brother’s grim tone, “we have to get to the capital **_now_**.”

“Well ok, if you say so brother!” He answered.

He had forgotten that they human was fighting their battle against the Queen. With a reluctant sigh he made sure Red was tucked in and he gave him a light skeleton kiss to the forehead.

Then he was off, he would need to make it quick.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sans was tired.

Tired and…. Ridiculously hot.

He awoke to suffocating heat. His skull was slick with sweat and after a moment of struggling against the space around him. It took him a moment realize he was simply wrapped up in a blanket.

Or really multiple blankets.

Finally clawing his way to the surface he was greeted with laughter, “Good morning Sleepy skull”

It took Sans a moment to process what blue had said, “m-morning?” He looked at his counterpart, he looked exhausted. Dark circles decorated his eye sockets and his clothes looked ruffled.

Blue answered him,” yeah, you slept day and night yesterday, you missed all the fun mwehehehe” His expression softened,” You looked like you really needed it”

Red searched Blued worn face, “…..i could say the same to you, you look like you’ve been fighting all night minus the injuries”

“heh…….that remains me I have…..some news………” Blue was avoiding his gaze and shifted,” The human has freed us”

All Red heard was static.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	8. New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its been awhile but i've been working on my writing, i hope this reads a little better then the previous chapters uvvu

The surface?

The other had to be joking, he was playing a cruel prank on him, but one look at his counterparts face told him that he wasn’t.

Red had never seen the sun, he didn’t even know it was even possible to kill the human for long enough to take their soul.

He felt faint, if the human’s soul had been taken and used to break the barrier then he was stuck here.

Here in a strange world that was bright and happy and…

He felt tears well up in his sockets, his nonexistent throat felt scratchy and raw as he resisted. If he was stuck here he would never see his little brother again, he was going to be free but his brother would never see the sun.

 

A blue glove hovered just over his shoulder before finally landing, “It's ok bud, take a deep breath. I know it's a lot to take in”

 

He took a deep breath once, twice, over and over again hoping to catch his breath. Hoping to reign back his raging emotions, but he couldn’t. 

 

Once again he failed.

 

Fat red tears of shame dripped from his eye sockets, his shoulders shook from the stress of trying not to sob like a child. Gloved hands rubbed his back in slow and soothing circles, it seemed like it lasted for hours but it was only a few minutes.

 

“There you go….here” Blue’s voice was low and soothing, he pressed a soft blue towel into his shaking hands. Red wiped away the evidence of his breakdown, the towel bearing red streaks once he was done.

 

His voice came out hoarse and crusty,”Can i see it?...the sun?” The other chuckled and nodded before giving a warm yes to his hopes and dreams.

 

The other stood and walked to his wardrobe searching for something for Red, with an exclamation of joy he came back with more clothes. It was another sweater, but it was baggier.

 

It hung from his frame perfectly, it dropped well below his waist. It was white and covered in small snowflakes, too cheerful for him but it was better than the clothes he was wearing before.

 

“Alright, now that you're up and dressed we need to grab some grub before we make a trip to the capital” His cheery tone didn’t leave any room for protest, not that Red was protesting. He followed the other with a tired nod.

 

He stopped in the doorway when he saw the other papyrus, he greeted his brother with a hum. He looked excited, it's a sight Sans hadn’t seen since the Boss was a small baby bones. He hesitantly followed his blue counterpart into the kitchen 

 

They other Papyrus shot him a sheepish smile, “Morin’ sorry ‘bout the other day by the way”. At first, he didn’t know what the other was talking about until it hit him, he had fainted after he had shaken the others hand the night before. He flushed a deep red and coughed, “i-it's a’right, it’s n-not your f-fault”

 

He stood awkwardly for a moment before taking a seat across from the softer papyrus. The other Sans shot him a small look of concern before his expression morphed into one of cheerfulness. One that Sans was sure was 100% fake. The other when into a loud and cheery exchange of words, the hints were subtle, if you weren’t looking for it you wouldn’t be able to tell. His counterparts laugh was a smidge too high, too loud, too pronounced. It was clear that he had been doing this for a long time when he saw how happily the other’s papyrus took it in. 

 

The Boss would never have allowed him to put on such a mask, he would have sniffed him out in a second. He supposed that this world was not perfect, everyone had their own issues to deal with. During the exchange, Blue had whipped up a plate of breakfast hash. He set a hearty portion on each of their plates, he saw the other papyrus grimace, if only for a moment.

 

Their brothers were similar in that way too, Sans would admit he wasn’t the best cook in the world but it was halfway decent. But the Boss only wanted perfect, something only he was able to do. Had the Boss not always been working Sans would have happily let him into the kitchen. 

 

The mash was good, seasoned fairly well and cook well through. He saw his counterpart eating it without issue, but…. The other papyrus was looking at the plate with a hint of hesitation. It annoyed him. “Y-you gonna e-eat that-t?” his voice came out shaky as he spoke to this world's papyrus. 

 

The other looked at him with surprise and guilt, he clearly wasn’t going to, he could tell before he even opened his mouth. “Nah, I already ate this morin’ Sorry brother I should have said somethin’ before you went out of the way….”

 

Before the other was done with his excuse he reached across the small table and snagged the plate. Sans didn’t waste food, no matter how good or foul, he tracked the conversation as he ate the other's food. 

“Oh! It's alright Papy, Red seems to be extra hungry anyway!” His counterpart said joyously,”Red needs all the energy he can get anyway, we’re going to the Capital so I can show him the sun mwehehe!”

 

The other Papyrus chuckled at his brother's antics,”Alright, well you too be careful I have some stuff to take care of” He stood up from the table, and he reached his long arms across the table and rubbed his brother's skull. Before he could protest he was gone, probably on his way back to Muffets. 

Sans wondered if in their world the two had a fling, Grillby had always held and appealed to him after all. Though they were never more than friends, he hummed at the thought. “Y-yer Bro spends a l-lot of time at that spiders p-place” 

 

He could see an expression of sadness on the others face, His voice was deflated and tinged with sadness as he spoke, “Yeah, Papyrus spends most of his time there. But hey it's better then him dwelling in misery heh a-anyway we’d better get going”

 

Just as fast as the mask slipped it was back on as if it never happened. He would need to dig further then he decided, if he was stuck here indefinitely then he would do what he could to ease his counterparts struggle.

 

They both stood up, Bue offered his hand to Red and he took it. Both closed their eyes as a wave of magic washed over them. It was strange when he was being teleported by someone else, something he’d never thought he would have thought he’d ever experienced. 

 

He opened his eyes when he felt the other tug on his hand, “Come on Red let's go see the sun!” He voice was soft and joyful. Red couldn’t even bring himself to let go of the other's hand. The were on the walkway to the king’s Castle or in this world perhaps the Queen’s castle. The walkway was filled with other monsters, they were milling about with smiles and laughs. 

 

Red was sweating profusely, he could feel the red magic dripping down his skull, other monsters eyed him wearily. Red magic was a corruption of sorts, not something that occurred naturally. Every monster in his world had it, it was a peculiar corruption it was not necessarily caused by LOVE but by a lack of love.

He felt Blue get closer to him, he wrapped his arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. He was acting as a form of shield before he knew it they were walking in golden halls. He calmed immediately, being here even in another universe it still held its hold over him. 

The walk was quiet and calm through the long golden hall. Their footsteps echoed and then stopped as a form blocked their way.

 

It was the Queen. 

  
  
  



	9. The Sun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, you get to meet the Queen and see the Sun!  
> What an overwhelming time for poor Red

Sans felt the other shake, if he could frown he would have. Had the Toriel in his world harmed him in some way? He took a step forward to shield his red counterpart from view. 

 

The Queen was humming, he let out a cheerful “Oh Good morning your majesty!” He saw the form stiffen slightly before rising to her full height. The goat monster was twice Sans’s height, he had to lean back just to look her in the eye. She turned around her long purple cape bellowing behind her. She was wearing her armor, golden and pristine, her shoulders relaxed when she caught sight of them.

 

She was wearing a long flowing purple  gown accentuated with a blues and whites with the delta rune displayed proudly. Her face split into a grin after a moment, “Sans my friend! What brings you here?”

 

“Oh! My friend Red,” He pulled Red close to his side, “ He was awful sick when the barrier was broken so he hasn’t been outside yet, i thought it’d be nice to show him!” Red froze when Sans called him out, but he relaxed slightly and nodded as Sans spoke. 

 

Her eyes glanced at Red with a curious look in her gaze, “Oh i see, I don’t believe we have met my friend, it is a pleasure to meet you. If you do not mind Sans could i join you on your trip?” Her eyes drew themselves back to him. He didn’t know what she was planning but he knew that she had some purpose. Knowing that there was no way to say no to the Queen of all monster kind he agreed readily,” Of course your majesty! It would be my honor!!”

 

She waved her hand forward, “Then let us be off my  friends” She fell into step beside Red. Blue tried to keep any attention off of his counterpart, it was clear he wasn’t comfortable with it. 

“I suppose you boys are much too young to remember the surface the first time,” the Queen spoke as they got ever closer to throne room, her voice was soft and tinged with a longing for a time long gone, “ It's still just as beautiful as it had been all those years ago….” 

Her tone made Sans yearn to be on the surface, not in the way the fallen human did. They wanted to play around, to mess with them and then pull them back into a Reset. He wanted to actually live there, permanently, with his brother and friends. He was so tired of pretending of hoping that everything would eventually work itself out. But he wondered if it really would, they had reset the world hundreds of times, why would they change their mind now?

“Golly you sound awful sad Queen Toriel, We’re finally on the surface and you can see the sun as much as you want!!” He injected as much innocence and cheer as he could into his voice. It granted him a soft smile from the Queen, she sighed and said, “I suppose you're right, there is no point dwelling on the past…”

She grew silent as they entered the throne room. Golden flowers were blooming in earnest, the light from the crystals above filtered in making the petals shimmer. It was an impressive display that still took Sans’s breath away. His counterpart seemed to think so as well because his eye light was hazy as he stared out at the garden. 

He gently pushed him forward and they quietly walked passed to where the the barrier had laid. He felt Red shake, anxious to see the surface but afraid of what he would see. He laced his gloved hand in his counterparts, steading him, “Come now Red, let's look at the Sun together.” He felt the other nod and they stepped out together.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==---=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Sans didn’t know how to process the sight he saw. The sun hurt his eye sockets, the change was so drastic but he couldn’t shut his eyes. He was greeted with rolling hills and an abundance of trees. The sky was a gorgeous pastel blue, wisp of clouds drifted lazily across the sky as a soft breeze swept past him. 

He didn’t even realize he was crying until he felt his counterpart wrapped him in a tight hug. He couldn’t even be upset at the other, Sans had never experienced a timeline where he made it to this point. But he had gotten lucky enough to drop into one where the human had failed. He wondered if they had dedicated a monument to this fallen human in this world, In his universe the king had erected statues of the humans that were sacrificed for the greater good. He hadn’t seen any trace of it here, but perhaps in this world they just erased their existence, he wouldn’t be surprised. He would doubt this work to show such disrespect for those killed as an unwilling sacrifice to free monsterkind. 

“....... So……...What now?.....” His voice was quite, small. Just like he felt in the middle of this grand display, he was afraid of breaking the image before him, as if it was all an elaborate prank on him. 

He jumped when he heard the Queen's voice, he had forgotten that she was there, “ Now we are in talks with the human leaders. We are trying to see where we will stay up here, so far they have been very friendly in their learning of our existence.”

“Mewhehehehe! Of course they are, the first monster they met was the magnificent Sans! And the ferocious Alphys too of course! But still!!! They can only be nice after meeting such cool monsters!!” He voice was loud and boisterous, it made the Queen laugh and goad him on. It made Sans sick to his stomach.

His counterpart was faking it so heavily, his attitude so childlike it made him want to barf. He torn himself away from the conversation, walking closer to the edge of the cliff and sat down, taking a deep breath. He need a moment of silence to process what was happening, how his life had completely turned around and where he would go from here on out. 


End file.
